


the color purple

by janie_tangerine



Category: Iron Fist (TV)
Genre: (IT'S MOST LIKELY AN EPIC BROMANCE, Awesome Claire Temple, Board Games, Epic Bromance, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Multi, Post-Canon, danny rand is too good for this world pass it on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 15:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18317756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janie_tangerine/pseuds/janie_tangerine
Summary: in which Ward keeps promises, Danny and Colleen hosts team game night and Claire's luck at Trivial Pursuit is fairly damn unfair.





	the color purple

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sholio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/gifts).



> AAAAAND HELLO GUYS this is my humble contribution for the Iron Fist fanworks exchange @ ironfistweek on tumblr - the recipient was the lovely Sholio/laylainalaska, for the prompt _Any characters doing something ordinary and domestic, like playing board games/cards, sparring or having fight training (hey, it's ordinary and domestic for them!), having lunch together, cooking a meal, sharing a room._ Well, you said board games, I had a vision (not so softly creeping) aaaand THIS HAPPENED I hope you enjoy it!! It's HONESTLY MINDLESS TOOTH-ROTTING GEN-ISH FLUFF I HOPE IT FITS THE BILL <33333
> 
> Other than that: nothing belongs to me, half of the trivial pursuit example questions I generously lifted online and the others I made up (but I mean, seemed like stuff that COULD belong on TP), and the title is me lifting Serious Titles for entirely less serious purposes XDDDD have fun while I saunter back downstairs and leave you to the fluff. XD

 

_Jakarta_

 

“So,” Ward says, “that was a bust.”

“Hey,” Danny protests, landing on the bed, “it wasn’t a _total_ bust. I mean, we _do_ know where we find Randall now, don’t we?”

Ward, who would _really_ enjoy a goddamned long-ass shower right now given that he’s covered in other people’s blood, that his clothes are ruined and that there’s dirt all over any exposed part of skin of his body, would like to see the glass half-full the way Danny is.

“Fair,” he admits, “but what the _hell_.”

“I know,” Danny sighs, “could’ve gone way better. But I mean, we went through worse.”

“Shit,” Ward groans, forcing himself to stand up before Danny can call dibs on the shower, “I miss the times when our biggest problem was winning at Monopoly.”

Danny, who most likely was _not_ thinking of the times they played it as kids in which Ward pretty much always won, sits up on the bed and blinks at him.

“ _My_ biggest problem, maybe, since as far as I recall _you_ always won.”

“Well,” Ward says, “that’s because you were too nice. Monopoly’s ruthless, Rand. If you don’t join capitalism, of course you find it hard to win it.”

“Huh,” Danny says, standing up and getting some water from their motel’s fridge, “actually — I don’t think I’ve played board games or anything since… well, since you beat me at Monopoly every other day.”

He sounds slightly sad now, of course he does, in the same way he _always_ gets when he realizes he hasn’t done _something_ that every other person has in-depth experience with in years, and Ward decides to forego the shower for one moment and move closer. “What, no board games in K’Un-Lun?”

Danny makes a fairly _not_ impressed face. “Not really,” he shrugs. “That kind of entertainment wasn’t… exactly popular.”

He doesn’t add anything else, but he kind of does look sad at the thought, and before Ward knows he’s put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, and _what the fuck is about Danny Rand that makes him go touchy-feely_ is a thing he would really like to figure the hell out. Soon.

“You know what,” he says, “when we go back, _if_ we do, no one stops either of us from doing it again. I mean, playing board games. Maybe not Monopoly.”

“As if,” Danny half-smiles, “it’s not like you wouldn’t beat me at about anything.”

“Well,” Ward concedes, “maybe you’re too nice for board games, but I guess that we could play in teams _if_ it’s all the same to you.”

At _that_ , Danny’s interest definitely perks up. “Wait, you mean we should play together next time it happens, whenever that is?”

“Why,” Ward grins back, “is that such a terrible prospect?”

Danny gets an outraged look on his face that’d be almost cute, if it didn’t make Ward’s stomach clench in warmth to see him that angry at the suggestion that it would be a _terrible prospect_.

Christ, how did they go so wrong in the beginning?

“Of course _not_ ,” he says, “and that’s totally a deal. Not Monopoly, though. That game is shit.”

“Fair, we’re picking another one,” Ward agrees, and he should have probably expected it when Danny about hugs him a moment later, but he’s made a point of, well, _doing that as much as he can_ , for reasons Ward hasn’t asked yet and he’s fairly sure he never will, so he just hugs him back regardless of how dirty with not-their-blood the both of them are.

And he supposes he’s going to have to talk to Colleen to figure out how this is going to work.

Hopefully she’s _not_ going to shoot down the idea, his presence, the fact that he automatically decided that the team was _not_ going to be her and Danny if there had to be one and so on.

_Hopefully_.

 

_New York_

 

“You want to play _board games_ ,” Colleen repeats after Ward blurts the proposal.

“… Yes?”

“Where you and Danny can team up.”

“I thought I wasn’t stammering when asking?”

She stares at him as if it was the last thing she had been expecting.

“And since when do you play board games?”

“You know, I’ve been twelve once upon a time.”

She raises an eyebrow, as if she’s not so sure about _that_ , but then she half-smiles in that way he has recognized might mean _well you’re not as terrible as I made you out to be once_.

“No Monopoly,” she says. “Maybe _he_ would ruin it for you, but like _hell_ I’m playing against someone who runs a capitalist corporation at _that_ one game.”

“Don’t worry, it was ruled out before. No Risiko, though.”

“… And what’s wrong with Risiko?”

“I’m not playing it with _you_ , you’d destroy the both of us. You and whoever else might be in your team, knowing his damned friends.”

“Fair,” she agrees, even if she does seem a bit disappointed that she doesn’t get to beat his ass at _that_ one game. “You know what,” she says, “I’m inviting Claire, and since she’s the only sensible influence on _any_ of us, we tell her that she can pick anything that’s not _those_ two and we’re settled. How about _that_?”

Ward, who had expected this to include a lot more negotiation, immediately holds out a hand.

“Deal,” he says. “Obviously, just invite whoever else you might want.”

“… And aren’t _you_ inviting anyone?”

He shrugs. “I don’t think the list of people _I_ can invite is that long and anyone on it is also on yours, so why should I make the effort?”

She says nothing for a moment, then she takes a deep, deep breath. “Good grief, you _do_ have issues,” she says. “Never mind. I’m worrying about the company. I’ll let you know when, unless you have preferences.”

“Please,” he says, “other than getting my shit together and trying to convince Bethany to let me be in that kid’s life I have nothing going on to pass the time.”

“… _Issues_ , so many issues,” Colleen groans, but she’s half-smiling as she leaves his office — he figured he’d be better off asking her here, since Danny would have been at home and he kind of wanted it to be a surprise, given that they never discussed this after that time in Jakarta and with everything that went down since then he’s sure that Danny _thinks_ he has forgotten it.

But — _he_ hasn’t, and he kind of really wants to deliver on the promises he makes these days.

— —

Three days later, he gets a text.

 

_This Saturday, six PM, Trivial Pursuit, not negotiable_.

 

What — _Trivial Pursuit_? For a moment it seems like the worst possible option, but then again… _well_. If they were playing on their own then it’d have been shitty given that he has a feeling Danny _would_ have issues with the pop culture part of it, _but_ then again… other than that and _art_ , and he can definitely cover for both, the rest is history, sciences, sports and geography — from what he gathered in K’Un-Lun they _definitely_ taught all of that and it’s not like he couldn’t guess the sports question if Danny couldn’t.

Okay. Maybe it’s a better option than he had figured. Fair.

It’s two days from now, too, so he doesn’t even have to wait too long for it, which would sound _ridiculous_ to the person he was five years ago, but… hell, he thinks he’s actually _excited_ about it? Which is fucking stupid, no one at his age should be excited to play board games, but — _admittedly_ , he hasn’t played any since Danny disappeared in China back in the day, it’s not really fun if it’s two people and Joy never was much for it, and Danny _did_ seem like he was looking forward to such a thing when they were in Asia —

Well.

Maybe it’s high time he admits to himself he’s excited to play board games and leave it at _that_ , and if his father would have thought ill of him for it, or if Joy wouldn’t be impressed, _who gives a fuck_.

Wow.

That felt liberating to think.

He shakes his head and goes back to work, the month’s review from the statistics department won’t get approved by itself, and if while he does it he’s actually feeling giddy at the idea of the board game night, _well_ , no one said both things couldn’t coexist now, did they?

— —

At six PM, he shows up at Danny and Colleen’s place with two bottles of a wine he knows she likes (because Danny _told him_ in Asia), and she doesn’t glare at the sight of him the moment he hands it over — good.

“Oh, here you are!” Danny grins, and wait, is he cooking?

“Of course I am, and are _you_ making dinner?”

“Well, last time we tried it and she cooked, it kind of went awry so Colleen figured we should switch it up. I’m almost done, anyway.”

“Right,” Ward says, taking off his jacket. “So, who else —”

Someone rings the doorbell and Colleen opens it excitedly, and a moment later Claire Temple and Misty Knight come inside the room — _right_ , of course they invited _them_.

“Oh,” Misty says, eyeing the bottles, “I see we also have the alcohol. Excellent.”

“Well, he’s useful for something,” Colleen says, but at least she sounds like she doesn’t mean it.

“Hey,” Claire says, “never insult the alcohol provider. Anyway, I brought the game,” she says, taking the box out of her tote bag. It’s the newest edition, from what it says on the cover. “We all know the rules, right?”

“But if we’re supposed to play in teams… it’s five of us?” Ward asks. “Unless someone else is coming.”

“I invited Jeri Hogarth,” Danny says, totally straight-faced. “But she was busy.”

“Please,” Misty says, “I can play on my own, I’m not going to be offended.”

“Or it could be _three_ of us against them,” Colleen grins.

“Hey, this match is _not_ even,” Ward protests.

Claire rolls her eyes. “Colleen and Misty can team up, _I_ can play on my own, and since it’s _my_ game and you decided I was in charge somehow, this is an enlightened dictatorship from now.”

“Fine by me!” Danny says, turning over his dumplings. “Okay, these should be done.”

“Wait, you cooked dumplings for one army?” Ward asks, noticing _how many_ are on the side.

“I’m of the opinion that if you enjoy eating something you should learn cooking it,” Danny replies before turning off the stove and taking off what Ward has a feeling is Colleen’s apron, since it’s one size too small for him. “So, are we giving this a go?”

— —

Turns out, Danny actually _never_ played this before, so Claire clears her throat as she takes out the board and explains them quickly.

“So,” she says, “it’s _really_ the dumbest game in existence when it comes to how it works. Each of us — well, each team — gets this round piece with six empty spaces. Each place is for one of the triangular wedges. You have to win them by answering trivia questions — geography is blue, history is yellow, entertainment is pink, arts and literature is purple, science and nature is green and sports is orange. You throw the dice and answer the questions depending on which color you land on. If you get right one question, you can throw the dice again until you get one wrong. When you’ve filled all six of them, the other players ask you one last question from another card, if you can answer it you win, otherwise you try at the next turn and so on. Clear?”

“That was remarkably concise,” Danny grins, “but yeah, seems doable. Ward, I _really_ hope you’re good with the pink questions.”

“Who do you take me for?” Ward quips back. “All right,” he says, grabbing his half-filled wine glass and a dumpling from the bowl on the side of the board, “I’m game. We’re ending you,” he grins.

“Oh, you _wish_ ,” Colleen grins back, and Danny seems quite amused by the exchange, but good thing if he is.

Ward eats his dumpling.

Well, Danny _definitely_ can cook them.

— —

At the first roll, Colleen and Misty end up on a pink square they both fail — apparently French cinema from the sixties isn’t a thing any of them has a background into. Claire gets right her first history question — who was born on the 14th of March 1879, in Ulm, Germany? _Albert Einstein_ — but fails the next sports one — the Borg-Warner Trophy, introduced in 1936, is awarded to the winner of which race?

—, which admittedly was tough as hell.

Then it’s _their_ turn.

“Okay,” Ward says, “you throw.”

Danny does, and they land on _geography_.

“Hm,” Ward says, “could be worse.”

“Yeah, yeah, so you say,” Misty says, grabbing a card, then she makes a face. “Okay, so: how large is China?”

Ward is about to ask, _what the hell_ , but then Danny perks up. “Three million seven hundred thousand square miles, give or take.”

Misty turns the card. “Fuck me,” she says, “I guess school in the magical alternate dimension _did_ teach you something. Claire, give them the blue square.”

… Right. Ward _should_ have figured out that _he_ would know.

“That was rotten luck,” Colleen says, “but do throw the dice again.”

“Wing, you’re a sore loser,” Ward smiles, and rolls the dice. They get a four. Which means they land on —

“Misty, get another card and ask them the sports question,” Claire says.

“Right. What is the only NFL team that has won three championships in a row?”

“ _What_ ,” Danny blurts, “I have no idea?”

“Oh, just you wait,” Ward says, “let me think a moment.” No one in this room probably knows that when he was fourteen he _did_ have a moment in which he went completely ballistic over the Super Bowl and the NFL, and he kept it carefully hidden, but he’s pretty sure it was — “The Green Bay Packers, in ’66-68.”

Misty turns the card. “What the _hell_ ,” she says, “you’re right. Hey, this is starting to be unfair.”

“Hey, _you_ were so sure we’d suck,” Ward grins, taking the orange triangle and high-fiving Danny before they put it inside their circle piece. “Rand, throw it again. Seems like we’re getting lucky.”

Danny grins and does. They roll a six, which means —

“Okay, I’m asking the science question,” Colleen says, grabbing another card. “Where can we find the smallest bone in the body?”

Ward knows that the face he just made sent Claire into a gigglefit. _She_ most likely knows the answer, _doesn’t she_ —

“Ear,” Danny says a moment later. Colleen turns the card.

“… Correct,” she admits, handing them the green triangle. Danny looks very smug, but then again Ward figures that if they have to fight people for a living or it’s their favorite pastime or whatever, they _would_ know how many bones are in the human body.

Ward rolls again. For some turn of luck, they end up on the pink square — wow, until now no repeated questions. Great.

“Right,” Claire says, grabbing the next card. “So, Sharon Stone was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in which 1995 film?”

“ _Who_?” Danny blurts.

“Wait, you don’t know who Sharon Stone is?” Ward asks.

“How would I? If she wasn’t in kids’s movies then no one would let me watch them and I crashed when I was _ten_.”

Ward rolls his eyes. “Right, remind me to show you _Basic Instinct_ as soon as —”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Colleen protests.

“Why? It’s pop culture, Wing.”

She rolls her eyes. “Well, Mr. _Pop Culture_ , what’s your answer here?”

“ _Casino_ ,” Ward replies. “Don’t bother checking, I’ve seen it ten times.”

“Someone had a crush on her, huh,” Colleen smirks, handing them the pink square.

“You wouldn’t know,” Ward says. “Right. Danny, throw it, at this rate we’re winning it before seven PM.”

“Sweet,” Danny grins, and rolls the dice.

Which ends up on the yellow square.

Misty takes the next card. “How is Martha Canary, who died in 1903, better known?”

“Martha _who_?” Ward asks.

“Wait,” Danny says, “it’s Calamity Jane.”

Misty turns the card. “How the _hell_ did you know that one?”

Danny smirks sheepishly. “I really liked the musical, when I was a kid. I mean, the old movie. Figured it might be her.”

“Unbelievable,” Misty sighs, handing him the yellow triangle. “If you get the next one right, I’m giving you the _worst_ question for the final win.”

“Feel free to,” Ward grins as he rolls.

And the three he gets lands them on the purple square.

“No way,” Danny says, sounding excited. “Hey, wait, if we get this right —”

“We’ve got all the triangles,” Ward grins. “Okay, bring it on.”

Claire reaches for the card. “So, in a 1964 painting called The Son of Man by René Magritte, what is largely obscuring the man's face?”

… The _hell_.

Ward has _literally no fucking clue_ , art never was his thing. “Uh,” he says, “I’ve got nothing. Danny?”

Danny looks at him with large blue eyes before shaking his head. “Uhm, no clue. A book?”

“No,” Claire says, “sorry, it’s an apple.”

“An apple?” Ward asks. “How are _apples_ covering a guy’s face?”

“It’s called surrealism,” Claire says, “you should look into it. Hey, it’s _finally_ my turn again! Good grief, I missed it,” she says, rolling.

She gets her science question right — In 1895, what is German scientist Wilhelm Rontgen credited with discovering? _The X-rays, apparently —_ and then fails the sports one, _again_.

Then Colleen throws the dice. It lands on the geography question, and she gets right how many stripes are on the Cuban flag, and then Misty guesses correctly that you clear ten hurdles in a 110m race, but then they fail at knowing which group won 1997’s Eurovision song contest, and so the dice goes back to the two of them again. Danny rolls a six. They get another purple question.

“Okay,” Ward says, “this one must be good. Come on, ask.”

Claire grabs the card. “In which city you can visit the Walker Art Gallery?”

“… The _which_ art gallery,” Ward groans. “Danny, you’ve got a clue?”

“Nope,” Danny shakes his head. “London?”

“No,” Claire shakes her head. “Ward?”

“Dunno, Chicago?”

“It’s Liverpool,” Claire says. “Sorry, you aren’t getting it this time, either.”

“Fuck,” Ward groans, and refills his glass as Danny reaches for a consolatory dumpling. “Next time.”

“Totally,” Danny agrees.

— —

By the time they land on the purple square again after answering two history questions, Claire is at four triangles on six, having also guessed art and geography, and Colleen and Misty are at three, having also guessed entertainment but failed science because they got an astronomy question no one in the room actually knew the answer to.

“Right,” Ward says, “hit me.”

“The novel _Crime and Punishment_ is set in which city?” Colleen asks. “Damn, they’re getting this one.”

“… Wait,” Ward says, “that’s Russian. Like. That’s definitely Russian.”

“I think so,” Danny agrees, “not that we read _those_ in K’Un-Lun.”

“Uhm,” Ward says, “Moscow?”

“… No,” Colleen says. “Danny, speak now or never.”

“… Vladivostok?”

“… _What_ ,” Colleen says, “no, it’s St. Petersburg.”

Danny smiles sheepishly. “Hey, _that_ was the closest Russian large city to where I crash-landed, what am I supposed to think?”

“… Never mind,” Misty says, “at least we’re still in the game. Claire, throw.”

“With pleasure,” Claire says.

— —

At the third try, she gets the sports question right — Ward decides that _which sport did Borg and McEnroe play_ was way too easy but then again she got the hard as hell question in the beginning, so that’s fair, he supposes. Then she fails the entertainment question again, what’s with Eurovision winners in these cards?, and as Ward reaches for another dumpling and stuffs it in his mouth, Colleen and Misty get the art question right but not the history.

Then he throws the die and they land on the purple square, again.

Colleen reaches for the card.

“We’ve got to get this one right,” Danny says.

“Totally,” Ward says. “Come on, has to be the right one.”

“So, what was the best-selling novel of the 19th century in the US?”

_What the hell_.

Ward, who never paid attention to _that_ kind of trivia in school, has nothing. Shit, what was some old book he knows for sure sold a lot?

“Er,” he tries, “ _The Great Gatsby_?”

“Congrats, Meachum,” Misty says, “you managed to get the century wrong. It’s from the twentieth. Danny?”

“Uhm,” Danny says, “19th century? Er, hm, _Tom Sawyer_?”

“… At least _you_ got the century right, but no, it’s _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_.” Colleen shakes her head. “Sorry, next time might be the good one!”

Ward groans. “Fuck, I _hate_ this damned color.”

“Don’t you tell me,” Danny mutters. “But at least I wasn’t _too_ off.”

— —

Claire fails her next geography question and Colleen and Misty fail the next pink square they land on.

Danny throws the die.

Another purple.

On one side, it seems like that color is fucking cursed. On the other, _maybe_ it’s the right time.

“Okay,” Claire says, “let’s see. Who is credited with the first English translation of Aesop's Fables, in 1484?”

“Who is credited with _what_ ,” Ward groans, “I have no idea.”

“Yeah, I’ve got nothing,” Danny says. “I’m not making myself ridiculous guessing _this_ one.”

“Well, sorry but thanks to Mr. _William Caxton_ you aren’t winning this. Now, let’s see.” She throws the dice, and ends up on a pink square.

As in, the last one she has left.

“Come on,” she tells Danny, “I have a good feeling about this.”

Danny nods and grabs the card. “Okay, so… In which 1940 satirical film did Charlie Chaplin impersonate Hitler? Oh, _come on,_ we get translators from the fifteenth century and you get _this_?”

“ _The Great Dictator_ ,” Claire grins, _very_ widely. “So, let’s see if I’m lucky.”

She rolls a three —

Which lands her _into the damned central square_.

“This is rotten fucking luck,” Misty says, “you _do_ know that, right?”

“I do,” Claire grins, “and I know you’re going to ask the sports question, so who are you even kidding?”

“Fine, _fine_ ,” Misty says. “We _are_ asking her the sports question, right?”

“Of course,” Ward says, “I’m not so suicidal that I want to surely lose this asking her the _science_ question.”

“Right, right,” Colleen says, “so… in 1930, which country won the first football World Cup?”

Claire _grins_. Oh, wait, _she can’t know_ —

“Uruguay,” she says, and then Colleen checks the answer.

“What — how did you know _that_?”

“Oh, because according to you I was _not_ surrounded by male relatives who went nuts during the World Cup growing up?” She reaches for a dumpling. “Ye of little faith. Wow, this is really good,” she tells Danny, after swallowing it. “You should totally consider it for a career.”

“Sure,” Danny grins back, “and anyway, you did fight well. Ward, we _really_ do suck when it comes to the purple square, don’t we?”

Ward swallows some wine, patting him on the back. “Well, it’s been one hour. If your girlfriend and Misty here agree, I’m down for round two. We _will_ have to guess one of the purple ones, at some point.”

“Hey, I’m down with doing it all night. It was _fun_ ,” Danny says, and then Ward looks at Colleen… who seems _dead set_ on getting a revenge.

“Misty,” she says, reaching for her wine, “ _no way_ we’re backing down.”

“You kissing? Of course we’re _not_ ,” she says. “Give me some more food and I’m good to go. I mean, those two are so helpless at that purple square, they’re never going to get it anyway.”

“ _You_ say that,” Ward protests.

“We still got five in a row,” Danny notes. “Which was still better than _any_ of you. So, Claire rolls? Since she won and all.”

“Please,” Claire grins, “I have a feeling I’m going to asphalt all four of you again and you _know_ it.”

Then she moves their playing pieces at the start and throws again.

“I have a feeling she’s right,” Ward mutters.

“Well,” Danny whispers back, “even if she is… we’re having fun, aren’t we?”

Thing is —

They might have been _terrible_ at the damned arts and literature questions, but Danny isn’t wrong. The competition is nice, the wine is good, the food is good, seeing Danny enjoy the _shit_ out of the evening is kind of heartwarming, and he _did_ deliver on what he promised in Asia, didn’t he?

Huh.

“You know what,” he says, “maybe we should make this a weekly thing. Just _rotating the game_.”

“I can’t wait to beat your ass at Pictionary,” Colleen agrees. “That said, we can’t let Claire win or we’ll end up having _consolatory_ sex later and it’s way less fun than _getting back at each other for having lost_ sex.”

“No one needed to know _that_ ,” Ward groans while Danny goes red in the face and Claire clears her throat, telling Danny to ask her the damned geography question already.

As Danny says he will and reaches for the next card, Ward decides that the weekly board game night prospect isn’t bad at all.

After all, they _did_ lose a lot of time… but it’s not too late to make up for it, isn’t it?

 

End.


End file.
